Gawain left Sheffield on Sunday to head down to London to catch his direct flight to Minsk, Belarus. Over the weekend we saw the mess that BA had and we were very glad we weren’t flying that weekend. His trip on Monday went smoothly and he arrived in a new country. So far no complaints except that the internet is patchy and slow.

Rounds starts at 1530 local time which is 1330 GMT. You can see the regulations or go to chess-results for pairings. As far as I can see the official website is in Belorussian or Russian. I’ll be watching on Chess24. The main goal of this tournament for most players will be to qualify for the World Cup. The Top 22 who haven’t yet qualified will take a place to play in Georgia in September this year. It’s not yet clear if Gawain has qualified through the ACP (Association of Chess Players) as Ivanchuk is ahead of him in the standings but Chuky may qualify via rating and then Gawain will be the the highest-placed participant of the ACP TOUR .

I’ll try and do some website updates and I’ll ask Gawain if he’ll annotate some of his games post tournament. I don’t know if I mentioned it in one of my previous post but I found it difficult when I was trying to write updates for you guys during the tournament.In Reykjavik I was also getting tired (towards the end) and so my results started to wane but they say if things are going well, don’t upset the rhythm! In future I’m not sure if I’ll be able to write updates during a tournament but I’ll try my best to keep you all updated and in the loop.

We have had a fun few weeks at home, getting back into a normal schedule and have started playing 7s Touch Rugby which is a non contact form of Rugby Union. It’s a fun fast paced game! 7 a side for 2 x10 minutes halfs and it’s very tiring to play but hopefully good for fitness. We are also playing touch with the Sheffield Oaks thanks to our good friend Simon Buckley who plays for them.

Touch Rugby – A sport for everyone!

My chess work for the next week and my Vivofit3!

For the next week this book is my chess work. I’ll also be using my new fitness tracker the Vivofit3 to beat our friends and gain the most points (not that I’m competitive or anything :P) . Tonight I went to my first Aussie Rules training session and that was a confusing game! It goes against all my natural instincts that I’ve been taught through rugby union, tag and touch. It was lots of fun and the Sheffield Thunders are such a nice bunch of players! It was a mixed training session but the men don’t play with the women. There was a lot of running and kicking and I mostly used my dominant hand/foot so I think my right side is going to be very achy tomorrow.